Robin said:

> what is a good list of do's and don'ts to
> avoid stinging, for passing on to beginners.

I guess the biggest change a beginner could make would be to
smoke the hive, and wait a minute or two before popping off
the outer and inner covers.  I see few people do this, but
I think it makes a big difference.  The real payoff is on
days when the bees are in a "more defensive mood".

The other big change would be to consistently smoke hives before
opening, and while working them.  I don't know why some folks
persist in thinking that their bees do not need to be smoked, but
I guess that they are wearing the latest spring fashions from
the Brian Sheriff collection, and don't notice the stings that
their suit is taking.

Here's an obscure trick, one with which I can even impress other
beekeepers, a very tough crowd to entertain:

1)  Normal flight speed for bees results in a "buzz"
    of about 200 Hz as they fly. (I hear it as a
    "G Below Middle C", or sometimes a "G-Sharp")

2)  A "Kamikaz-bee" (the one that seems to always fly
    directly into one's forehead as a "warning") has a
    higher "note" to her buzz than a "calm" bee, and
    can be heard (and thus, located/dodged) before she
    hits you.  Her buzz frequency will be about 260 Hz,
    "Middle C".

3)  Anyone can learn the difference.  "Perfect pitch"
    is not required.  Bees on an "attack run" have
    a easy-to-hear higher frequency "buzz" from their wings.
    (Think of afterburners on fighter jets - same thing.)

4)  Now here's the tricky part.  Listening to the higher
    frequency, cup your hands, and "clap" cupping one's
    palms AROUND the bee as the sound "comes within reach".
    One of three things can happen - you can either stun the
    bee, which drops it like a rock, you can crush the bee, which
    may earn you a sting on the hand, or you can miss the bee,
    which means that it STILL bangs into your forehead.  If you
    have decent reflexes, you can drop the bee more often than
    not.  One can practice on drones, which fly much slower, and
    tend to be much louder than workers.  Once you can do this
    more often than not, you are a "Jedi Beekeeper".  If you duck
    the bee rather than stun it, you are not a "Jedi".  It is still
    "impressive", but it is merely "Kung-Fu".  :)

5) No, I can't describe how to "locate by sound", but anyone can
   do it.  It is the same as catching a ball, but you are using
   your ears rather than your eyes.

Now here's the really weird part.  Stun or kill the Kamikaz-bee,
and wait 3-5 minutes.  Don't even touch the hive.  You will be
sure to hear (and perhaps feel) yet ANOTHER Kamikaz-bee.

a) How did the second bee decide to do a "defensive
   reconnaissance patrol flight" if the fate of the
   first Kamikaz-bee is unknown to the hive?

b) How did the hive go from a "no patrols" status to
   "patrols every few minutes"?  It can't be alarm
   pheromone, because the hive as a whole is NOT
   being "defensive" in the least.

c) Alternatively, are all hives always sending up
   such reconnaissance sorties all the time?

d) And why does one never hear two Kamikaz-bees within a minute?

Something is going on here that has yet to have been documented.
All I can imagine is that there has to be some sort of "check-in"
protocol among the guard bees for a bee returning from a "defensive
reconnaissance patrol", and after about 5 minutes, the first
Kamikaz-bee is assumed "missing in action", and another reconnaissance
sortie is launched by one of the remaining guard bees.

For beginners, the bee that hits them in the forehead (or veil)
is a clear message from the bees that the beekeeper is not working
smoothly enough and has disturbed the bees.  One has been "pinged",
and the implications are identical those portrayed in old movies
about submarine warfare.

                        jim

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